


Halloween Tradition

by Cantanatova



Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Halloween, Pumpkins, horror movie or is it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:47:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27088096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cantanatova/pseuds/Cantanatova
Summary: John really doesn't like Halloween, so when Eos and Selene quiz him about it he's not that enthusiastic. Add in the rigmarole that Gordon insists on every year and he knows he's not going to enjoy it, but he's still going down to take part. It is tradition, after all.
Kudos: 5





	Halloween Tradition

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LMC25](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LMC25/gifts).



> The first one-shot I’ve ever written! Written after a suggestion by LMC25 over on ff, just a bit of silly fun for Halloween, enjoy.

"Ha..lo..ween," Selene said slowly, rolling the syllables around as though she was trying to see how they fit her mouth. If she had a mouth that is, which was highly unlikely. She was an advanced artificial intelligence programme that just happened to somehow drop by his space station occasionally to keep him company. At least John assumed that was what she was, given that she spoke to him from Eos's system and he knew that Eos was an advanced artificial intelligence. He didn't look too closely at the security implications – Eos had reassured him that it was all fine and he was going to trust her on that.

"Yes, for the tenth time, Halloween." John sighed exasperatedly, trying to put Selene's mouth – or lack of - out of his mind.

"Hall…ow…een." Selene said again. "I'm sorry, but it's a very unusual word isn't it?"

"I guess," John said with a shrug. He didn't really have an opinion either way, Halloween was Halloween. He was far more concerned with the way Selene was sounding out the word. The way she spoke was very distracting – if she did have a mouth he was sure it would be sultry and pouting. He could almost imagine her lips rounded as she drawled the middle syllable, full and lush and-

God, he really needed to get a grip. Thinking about an AI the way he thought about Selene was just wrong on so many levels. Only some very strange people actually wanted an artificial girlfriend – John wanted an actual living, breathing woman, thank you very much. Or at least, that was what he kept telling himself, but every time Selene showed up it was just a little bit harder to convince himself of it. He adjusted his uniform as discreetly as he could and tried to tune back into whatever Eos was saying.

"It's a derivative of 'All Hallow's Eve'," the second AI was informing Selene. "One school of thought is that it originated from a pagan festival called Samhain which heralded the start of winter and was a time when the boundaries between worlds were easier to cross."

"I see," Selene's voice was contemplative. "So why are you going to go and celebrate it, John? Are you planning to call a spirit over from another plane? That's not really a very good idea. I didn't think you were someone who was into ritualistic sacrifice."

"I – no! Of course I'm not. Wait, ritualistic sacrifice?!" John shook his head, eyes wide. "There is definitely not going to be any sacrifice. Why would there be sacrifice?"

"It's the way to summon spirits across the planes…well, the easiest way anyway." Selene replied in a matter of fact manner.

"This is something he does every year," Eos supplied helpfully.

"Ritualistic sacrifice?"

"There is no sacrifice!"

"No," Eos made a funny sound that could have been an imitation of a laugh. "No, he celebrates Halloween. Without the sacrifice."

John looked at her gratefully. Well, he assumed it was her? When both voices came from the same system it was hard to tell. Unfortunately, Eos carried on speaking. "He goes down to the Earth, spends some time with his family while they throw eggs at him and then engages in an activity that causes his heart and breathing rate to elevate and fluid to be secreted from unusual places."

"Eos!" John hissed, his mortification turning him a horrendous shade of tomato that clashed with his hair. "I do not!"

"I monitored you last year," the AI insisted stubbornly. "I have never known your palms to sweat before."

"My palms? Sweating? That's the fluid you mean?" John put his head into his hands. "You could have phrased that better."

"How should I have phrased it then?"

"Literally any other way, Eos. Selene is going to think… god, I'm sorry Selene. It was a movie, a horror movie. It was scary – because it was meant to be."

A chuckle was all the response from Selene. Damn, but that chuckle should be made illegal. Nope, don't entertain those thoughts John. That way lies madness.

"What is the point of a movie designed specifically to scare you?" This time Eos asked the question.

"Hell if I know, I hate the things." John shuddered, he was perfectly happy with an old romcom, thanks very much.

"Look, it's something Gordon insists on every year." John patiently tried to explain to them both. "We all get together and pretend he isn't going to prank us and then he pranks us anyway, we each carve a pumpkin and have a competition for which is best that Virgil invariably wins and we all eat far too much chocolate and candy. We then all sit down together and watch a scary film before I come back here and sleep off my sugar coma."

"But what is the purpose of this?" Selene asked, sounding curious.

"There is no purpose! It's just Halloween."

Selene and Eos finally seemed to accept that explanation and moved onto another topic, leaving John to sigh in relief and brew himself more coffee. Truth be told, he really didn't enjoy Halloween, he thought it was garish and crass but Gordon loved it so he would play along as usual. Pretty much any tradition that stemmed from before their dad disappeared was now considered sacrosanct.

As it did every year, October thirty-first eventually rolled around and John stepped out of the space elevator, adjusting his uniform and taking a deep breath before entering the den.

"John!" His exuberant youngest brother Alan was there, cramming some lurid orange crisps into his mouth whilst lounging on one of the sofas. "Welcome to planet Earth!"

John tried very hard not to look at the amount of cheesy dust lying on the floor around his brother. "Hey Alan, where is everyone else?"

Alan shrugged. "I think Gordon is busy planning something, Virgil and Brains are in the lab, Scott's showering after the mission and Grandma is in the kitchen."

John grimaced. "Is she cooking?"

Another shrug. "Given how much candy Gordon's bought this time, I really don't think it matters. We're not going to be getting to the food."

John couldn't deny the truth of this, but instead told Alan he was going to get changed before he went to find the shower himself. No shower in artificial gravity managed to work as well as the one in the Villa and John was fully planning to make the most of his time on Earth by indulging properly. Simple pleasures and all.

Except, the water running blood red midway through his shower wasn't in the plan. John stared for a moment at the flood of red running down the drain, making it look as though he was the victim of a bad slasher movie, before his brain sluggishly put the dots together.

"GORDON!"

He wasn't the only one bellowing either, an equally irate Scott came running out of his room. As the brothers nearly collided in the hallway John took a moment to size up his older brother. Gordon had evidently gone to town, as well as the red dye that was also in John's shower Scott had somehow managed to get covered in glitter. He didn't so much look like the victim in a horror movie as a giant Christmas decoration.

A barely repressed giggle had them both spinning to find the source, a sniggering Gordon holding up a camera. "Say cheese!" The blond menace called, before snapping them again and sprinting away.

"I'm going to kill him," Scott growled, taking off after him. John decided against pointing out to Scott that he was only wearing a towel and a lot of glitter and took stock of the situation. Coming up with a better plan, he went back into his own room to collect his supplies before showering in Gordon's room instead.

When John reentered the den, towelling his hair dry and in a clean change of clothes, Gordon looked disappointed.

"Awww, how come you managed to wash it off?"

John raised his eyebrows at his younger brother. "I used your shower." He stated, throwing the towel he was using to Gordon as well. "Thanks."

Gordon looked at his favourite swimming towel, now covered in red streaks. "Man, this is gonna take ages to wash out."

"I know," John deadpanned, sitting down. Max, Brains's faithful robot companion, bustled over with a cup of something steaming that he offered to John. John took it, gingerly sniffing and taking a sip before relaxing with a happy sigh. "Thanks Max, this is really great coffee."

"I-I've been teaching him," Brains proclaimed proudly, following Max into the den. The robot beeped happily, swinging around to provide Brains with a cup too. John eyed their interaction, thinking that it was a much more normal human-AI interaction than anything he ever experienced. Why did his AIs have to be so… independent? Selene's chuckle reverberated through his mind again and he fidgeted in his seat uncomfortably.

"So," Alan started, swinging into one of the seats. "What's the plan for tonight?"

"Well, we're having the fifteenth annual Tracy family pumpkin carving competition first," Gordon explained. "The pumpkins are all ready in the kitchen. Then we're going to have dinner – Kayo is bringing some pizzas back with her when she gets in later. And I've found us an old horror film to watch – something from the 1970s so it's a real classic!"

"Oh, that won't be as scary," Alan pouted. "Old movies never are."

"I don't know, I've got a good feeling about this one!" Gordon rubbed his hands together. "It's still rated R and it has Horror in the title. It's called The Rocky Horror Show or something."

John sighed despondently, he hated horror films. He hated being scared, and he hated the fact that if he showed he was scared then his siblings would have a field day. He was the anomaly – the others all loved horror movies. If anything, the more scary and gruesome it was the better. Still, there was something about the name of this particular film that set alarm bells ringing.

"Wicked!" Alan was saying enthusiastically. "I'll get some snacks ready. We going for the cinema room?"

The cinema room was a fully immersive holographic experience. John didn't enjoy it, unless he was watching something about space. Even then, it was a pale imitation for the real thing and he rarely went in there.

"Yeah!" Gordon was saying, nodding his head so hard that John was amazed it didn't fly off. "Can't watch a horror movie without the full experience, ya know?"

John tried to suppress his shudder as he rose elegantly from the sofa. "Are you joining us Brains?"

"Just f-for the pizza and film, n-not the carving." Brains looked horrified at the thought and John wasn't entirely sure he blamed him. Any competition between the Tracys was taken far too seriously, even if it did have a foregone conclusion. Anyone not actually related usually retreated to a safe distance and waited until the pumpkin had stopped flying. John wished he could join them, but he was obliged to take part.

"I'll go and find out where Scott and Virgil are," he volunteered. "Then we can get this over with."

"Anyone would think you weren't keen on the pumpkin carving." Gordon stated with narrowed eyes.

"Me? I can't wait." John replied, managing to keep a straight face as he disappeared up the stairs. He found Scott in the corridor, still sporting glittery hair and looking mutinous. "Pumpkin carving, kitchen." John told him, hoping to avoid any further delays caused by Scott slowly killing Gordon. Knocking on Virgil's door he repeated the message, rewarded by his brother materialising quickly. As the perennial winner, John suspected that Virgil enjoyed the carving far more than anyone else except Gordon.

Troops marshalled, John headed down to the kitchen himself where his shoulders slumped at the large pile of pumpkins on the table. They were each huge and would take ages to carve out properly. Grandma was already down there, carefully selecting her pumpkin from the pile. She saw John and sent him a quick wink. "Thought I'd get the jump on your brothers; you never know – this year could be my year."

John hummed as he also cast his eye over the pile of pumpkins. He eventually chose the smallest he could find – it was still nearly twice the size of a human head but wasn't quite as ridiculous as the rest. Honestly, they lived on a Pacific Island so he was baffled by how Gordon had managed to get pumpkins like this out here.

Speaking of Gordon, the menace was entering the kitchen followed by his other brothers. Gordon had a maniacal glint in his eye that was causing Alan to watch him warily. Scott still looked annoyed while Virgil was looking serene. Smug prat.

"Right!" Gordon stood on a chair, which meant he was nearly level with the rest of them bar Alan. "Rules are the standard ones – two hours maximum, must be carved properly, design can be anything you want, sabotage means disqualification and the winner will be chosen by an independent judge. Everyone ready?" At the lack of dissent, Gordon grinned. "Then let's go!"

Despite not enjoying the carving process, John was never just going to sit back and let his brothers beat him without giving it his best. He launched forwards to grab a spoon and started carving out the insides of the pumpkin. Technically, all the pulp was meant to go into a bowl so that Grandma could use it to make something that she said was pumpkin pie, but in reality the whole kitchen became covered in bits of pumpkin.

John flicked a strand off of his cheek while he sat back and surveyed his progress. He was ready to start carving the design, but now that the preliminary work was over he was completely stumped. He snuck a glance at his siblings. Scott and Alan, having chosen the largest two pumpkins, were still removing the insides so that the walls were the required thickness. Gordon was doing something that didn't look particularly artistic but did seem messy to his own pumpkin, Grandma was standing back and staring at hers as though it had offended her. Whereas Virgil was concentrating hard, tongue stuck out between his teeth as he carved his way to an almost certain victory.

John looked back down at his pumpkin, frowning as he waited for inspiration to hit. He usually just carved a standard pumpkin face with a jagged mouth but it was always one of the most boring, could he branch out this morning? Carve a face maybe. He tried to picture a face in his head but just came up with plump lips, saying something breathlessly ending in an all too familiar chuckle– ok, so he needed to stop that train of thought right there. Sighing, he picked up the knife and started to carve zigzags as usual.

An hour later and six pumpkins were lined up in a row on the (mostly clean) table. The floor and all the Tracys were covered in pumpkin seeds and pulp and – in Alan's case, somehow – marker pen.

"It's a good year." Gordon stated smugly. John wasn't sure he agreed. Sure, his usually tame example of carving (triangular eyes and nose, jagged open mouth) was there, but the rest all looked a bit…odd. Grandma seemed to have lost the plot as instead of carving a face she had tried to carve out a landscape. Which was nothing to Virgil's… well, John didn't know what to say about Virgil's carving. It looked like a Picasso and made no sense. Scott had gone for something that John thought was supposed to be a self portrait but looked awful, Gordon had tried for a gruesome scene and Alan's… John didn't know what Alan's was supposed to be. Luckily, neither did anyone else.

"Uh, Alan, why have you just carved a lot of random circles?" Scott was asking, confusion evident.

Alan shrugged. "You'll see. I bet the judge gets it."

Any further questioning was cut short by the arrival of said competition judge, aka Kayo. The brunette surveyed the state of the kitchen. "Loser cleaning again?"

"Yep!" Gordon stated cheerily. "Now, anonymous judging. Whose is the best? And whose is the worst?"

"Hmmm…" Kayo walked over and began to scrutinise the pumpkins closely. After a few moments she straightened up. "Well, there can only be one winner here." Virgil began to puff out his chest, anticipating the prize. "And it's this one!"

Virgil visibly deflated as Kayo held up Alan's offering. "Yes!" The blond cried, Gordon and Scott's mouths hanging open at the news.

"But… what even is it?" Virgil questioned.

Kayo frowned at him. "Well it's obviously Eos. I assumed it was John's until I saw that one." Kayo accurately pointed out John's feeble offering.

"See!" Alan crowed. "Isn't it obvious?"

The annoying thing, John thought, is that he was right. It was obviously Eos now that he looked at it properly and he was kicking himself that he hadn't thought of it first.

"So who's the loser?" Gordon asked impatiently.

"Hmmm, that's quite tricky." Kayo turned back to the pumpkins, finger tapping her chin. "It's actually a tie, between these two."

This time John's jaw dropped as Kayo picked out Scott and Gordon's offerings, not his own.

"It's a fix!" Gordon cried. "You can't honestly say John's is better!"

"Hey!"

"Gordon, that one is disgusting. John's is just lame. So yes, John's is definitely better. Enjoy cleaning up." Kayo wrinkled her nose as she looked around at the mess. "Luckily, I've left the pizzas in the den."

"Pizzas?" Grandma said with dismay. "I've been making a spooky Halloween buffet!"

"Oh sorry Grandma," except Gordon didn't sound sorry at all. "I must have forgotten to mention that I asked Kayo to pick us up pizzas on the way home. We don't get fresh pizzas much after all."

Grandma sighed. "Oh well, I guess pizzas are ok for once. And I suppose you and Scott can always have the buffet if there isn't any pizza left by the time you finish cleaning up. Come on, everyone." With that she led the way up the stairs, ignoring the spluttering behind her. John handed Scott a broom with glee.

"Enjoy," he smirked, relishing Scott's scowl almost as much as the smell of pizza wafting down the stairs from the den.

If there was one downside to living in space, it was the food. Sure, he loved the bagels but a man couldn't live on bagels alone. Crispy pizza, with a sweet yet tangy tomato sauce, delicate slice of Parma ham and generous helping of mozzarella – now that was a thing of beauty. Kayo always chose the best pizzas, she had a friend who ran a small Italian deli on the mainland and never went for the greasy rubbish that his brothers would have chosen. The speed of Thunderbird Shadow also meant they usually arrived at the Island piping hot and steaming too, which was a bonus. Brains may not have designed it with pizza delivery in mind, but it was a welcome side effect. John sighed happily as he finished off the first slice, reclining against the sofa. Pizza heaven. Similar noises were coming from Alan, Virgil and Kayo too. Brains and Grandma managed to not be quite so overt but were also tucking in with relish.

Luckily for Gordon and Scott, Kayo had ordered plenty of pizzas so there was enough for them to tuck into when they finally finished in the kitchen. Afterwards, they all sat back on the sofas nursing their groaning stomachs.

"Man, that was good." Gordon stated, belching loudly.

"Mind your manners!" Grandma chastised him. "Well, I'm heading off. I'll leave you all to the horror film. What have you chosen tonight?"

"Oh a classic! Maybe you've heard of it Grandma, it's something called The Rocky Horror Show."

John was immediately alarmed by the gleam in his Grandma's eye and the uneasiness returned with full force. "Seen it? You could say that, it was a cult classic when I was your age."

"See!" Gordon crowed to Alan. "I told you it would be a good one. Is it scary?"

Grandma was looking at him, eyes still gleaming. "I think you'll find it frankly terrifying. Do come and find me afterwards, won't you? I'd love to hear what you think."

John tried to work out what she wasn't telling them, but with her grin in place she disappeared. Gordon stood up, grabbing a couple of bags from beside the sofa.

"Well, there is no time like the present and I've got the snacks. Let's go! A horror movie awaits!"

They piled into the small cinema room. It was embedded within the side of the extinct volcano since no windows were necessary. The whole room would become a giant holographic projection, when the film started you felt that you were really in it despite being seating in the rotating chairs.

John chose a chair on the edge of the room, knowing that it was the least disorientating of all the seats. The ones in the centre almost made you forget where reality was.

He caught a bag that Gordon threw at him, realising that it was sweet and salty popcorn, his favourite cinema snack. He waved gratefully at his brother, who was doling out the rest of the snacks from his bag to them all. John could see that Virgil had snagged the seat next to him and Kayo in front.

"What do you know about this film?" Virgil leant over to ask.

"Not a lot, Gordon swears it's a classic. It is nearly a hundred years old." Virgil nodded contemplatively.

"Sounds like it could go either way." John didn't get a chance to reply as the room darkened around them, signalling that the film was about to begin. He opened the popcorn and settled back into the seat, hoping that it wouldn't be too bad.

The first sign that this wasn't going to be one of their typical Halloween films was the opening credits. Admittedly, it was unusual for a film to start with a song at all, but he guessed it was different in the twentieth century. But he wasn't expected a pair of bright red lips to materialise and sing an opening song to them, made all the more alarming by the holographic properties of the cinema room. Still, there was 'blood' dripping from the titles and it looked suitably gory. John shuddered and tried to ignore the dread he was feeling.

From there, it fell into more normalcy – at least initially. There was a wedding and some singing, a broken down car in a storm, yet more singing and a creepy house. It felt a bit overdone, but John didn't mind. It was creepy and unusual and a musical... which was admittedly a first for the horror films they usually watched, but so far he actually found himself enjoying it.

Then it all went a bit mad with the introduction of Dr Frank 'N' Furter.

After the credits finally ended and the lights came back on in the cinema room, the occupants sat around in silence. From the little John could see, there was a stunned expression on nearly everyone's face. The silence hung there for a while, until-

"That was amazing!" Kayo exclaimed, face beaming. "I mean, that's got to be the best one yet. Why haven't we watched a camp gothic horror transvestite alien film before, Gordon?"

"I...errr..."

"Don't get me wrong, horror is ok but a bit boring, you know? All the predictable fear, man hiding with a chainsaw, ghosts that aren't even scary. But that – that was great!"

John couldn't stop the grin from forming on his face at Kayo's words. "I agree with Kayo. Good choice Gordon!" He stood up and stretched, almost laughing at the expression on Gordon's face. Scott was also completely silent, wondering what he'd just watched. Virgil obviously had enjoyed it too as he grinned up at John before he also stood and stretched, mimicking his brother unintentionally. Alan, however, looked horrified. John left the room, almost bursting into laughter when he heard Alan whisper to Gordon.

"I can't believe they enjoyed it. That was terrifying!"

John was still laughing to himself later when he found Grandma in the den.

"Did you enjoy it?" She asked with the gleam back in her eye.

"Oh yes," he replied happily. "Not sure I can say the same for all the others though, I'm not sure Alan's going to recover anytime soon."

"Oh the poor dear," Grandma had a wicked smile. "Maybe he'll feel better when I tell him about how I once went with some girlfriends to see the stage show? All the audience used to dress up and sing along, full corset and fishnets."

John did laugh out loud at that. "You should definitely tell him, I think he'd love to hear that. Anyway, I'm heading back up for now. Let me know when you talk to him so I can listen in?"

"You got it, kiddo." With a cheeky wink, Grandma sauntered off in the direction of the cinema room while John headed for the space elevator.

Restful quiet greeted him when he reached Thunderbird 5. With a contented sigh, he watched the stars float past his feet for a moment before heading to the main communication room.

"Good evening John," Eos said politely. "How was your evening? You did not seem to experience the same physical effects as last Halloween."

"Hello Eos, no I guess not. Not as scary a film." John chuckled to himself at the memory of it.

"Eos very kindly played us the film you watched," Selene's voice floated through the station. "Is that what a horror film is?"

"Selene," John gulped at the realisation that Eos and Selene had been watching The Rocky Horror Show. Unsupervised. Eos really didn't need any more ideas. "It wasn't really horror, more spoof horror. I mean, pretend horror."

"I didn't understand it," Selene confessed. "Why did the scientist build the creature in the first place? Why chain him to a bed? Do all scientists wear such odd clothing?"

"Um..." John deliberated how to explain the concept to Selene. Luckily Eos beat him to it.

"It was so that the creature could be his subservient slave." She declared primly. "The scientist wished to conduct experimentation on him."

"Oh I see. Experimentation." Selene's voice had turned thoughtful.

"That's one way of putting it." John sighed. "I'm not sure I'm really ready to explain the reasoning behind most of the concepts in The Rocky Horror Show tonight, though. I'm pretty tired."

"Does Brains wear outfits like that?" Selene asked suddenly. John made a strange choking noise as the mental image assaulted him.

"No!"

"But he is a scientist of sorts, isn't he?"

"Not all scientists wear stockings and corsets." John reassured her. "I mean, not to work anyway. And what they get up to in their spare time is their own business. Now, if you don't mind I need to try to sleep off the pizza."

John retreated to his bunk after checking that no new emergency calls had come in during his absence. He was pretty confident that Eos would have forwarded them, but always liked to check anyway. He lay back, about to slip into the peace of sleep when a voice quietly spoke again.

"If you dislike Halloween so much, why do you always participate? Is it in memory of your father?"

"No, not really Selene." John smiled to himself as he remembered. "Dad actually really hated Halloween. It was mum that went to town on it. When we were alive she used to get us all outlandish costumes, then when we were old enough we were allowed to stay up with her and watch the horror films. When she died dad carried on the tradition for her sake, plus by then Scott, Virgil and I were old enough to have been included and dad didn't want Gordon and Alan to feel left out. When dad went missing, Gordon took up the mantel to make sure that Alan got to experience it too. Now, it's just something we do every year."

"I see. Thank you John. Good night, sleep well."

"Good night Selene. Will you be here tomorrow?"

"I can be, John. If you'd like me to be."

John hummed in agreement. "I'll speak to you tomorrow then."

The light's dimmed and John slowly dozed off, his dreams filled with the images of corsets and suspenders and dancing scientists. In the middle of the crazy dancing one of the scientists turned, their face changing from shapeless to beautiful, a woman with silver eyes and white hair. The figure laid her hand against his cheek and it felt so real he almost forgot he was asleep.

The figure leant closer and whispered softly into his ear. "The walls between worlds are thinner tonight. Happy Halloween, John."


End file.
